Gqeberha – South Africa's batters will take confidence into the all-important Dutch series while the bowlers still have work to do before the first ODI starts in Benoni on Friday.
The Proteas went down 2-1 at the hands of the West Indies in the recently concluded T20 International series. Before the T20I series, they drew 1-1 against the same opposition in the ODI series.
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There were many positives from the series as South Africa’s batters scored big runs.
Temba Bavuma led from the front in East London and scored 144 off 118. Heinrich Klaasen responded with an unbeaten 119 of just 61 balls and Quinton de Kock wrapped up the tour with a superb 100 off 44 deliveries.
“It will be difficult not to be excited by what we’ve seen over the last three games in this series and in the 50-over stuff as well,” said coach Rob Walter about the batting group’s recent performances.
“I think we’re getting there. We’re certainly making progress in terms of how we want to play the game. Just a couple of days ago we scored the highest successful chase ever in T20I cricket.
“There are exciting things happening. It’s really nice to see the guys playing with a bit of freedom and just expressing their skills. There’s more in the tank, I believe,” he added.
There were magnificent performances from Reeza Hendricks as well in the T20I series.
Hendricks scored a 28-ball 68 in the second match and followed it up with a 44-ball 83 in the third clash.
Walter said he was not surprised by Hendricks performance.
“No-one needed to convince me of Reeza Hendricks’s quality,” said Walter.
“He scored 135 against us, the Titans, in Kimberly playing shots like you’ve seen in the last couple of days. I’ve known he’s a quality player for a very long time. It doesn’t surprise me at all, to be honest.
“It’s just wonderful to see the way he’s played and hopefully it continues.”
The only concern there is leading up to the all-important Netherlands series is in the bowling department. The quality and experience is there but the bowling attack lacks accuracy in executing game plans.
Walter suggested that it was not only execution that was off but also the plans that were set were not the best.
“It’s definitely been a tough series for the bowlers, from both ends,” said Walter.
"There is work to be done. We have to acknowledge there was some seriously good batting over the three (T20I) games, but in the same breath, there is work to be done on the bowling front.
“When you lose a game, it inevitably comes down to your skill execution or your plans on the day, we were probably guilty on both fronts really,” he added.
Looking at the Dutch squad, it should be an easy task getting the two required wins against them, especially as the South Africa Invitation XI made light work of them earlier in the week.
Walter is looking forward to seeing how his ODI team responds in what will be a high-pressure series with World Cup qualification on the line.
“I’m positive around the cricket that we play. I think from where we are now and where we want to get to, it’s not a long way. It’s just some skill execution stuff, some skill development areas and some game plans, things that are actually not difficult to improve on.
“I am looking forward to seeing how the team responds in this pressurized situation and how we can still adopt our game plan in two must-win games for us. I’m looking forward to see how the team respond and really try to play our brand of cricket now that it counts."
IOL Sport